The former head of PGMOL will be our refereeing expert throughout the World Cup, taking a close look at the performances of the men with the whistle, as well as other talking points.
Spain v Belgium
"Referee Michael Oliver became the English referee to officiate the highest number of World Cup games (seven) to date, after being appointed to oversee this game.
"It was good to see him not come out and brandish an early and cheap yellow card, choosing to manage the situation when Leandro Trossard pulled back his opponent, no doubt taking into account the nervousness of some of the players.
"The correct award of a free-kick, which came to nothing, the terrific detection of a handball by a Spanish player and an uncontested drop-ball when Oliver inadvertently got in the way of play, were further evidence of an official at the top of his game.
"The first booking of the match came when Spain defender Pau Cubarsi pulled Kevin de Bruyne's shorts; another correct decision from the man in the middle, who'd had a superb first half.
"Marc Cucurella was correctly penalised for an early foul in the second half, whilst an offside flag in the 47th minute to stop a Spanish attack was spot on again.
"An awkward moment occurred when substitutes that were warming up blocked the run of assistant referee Stuart Burt, leaving him exposed if he had to make either an offside or corner kick decision.
"Later in the game, Oliver made his first incorrect call when he awarded Belgium a free kick. In fact, Jeremy Doku was guilty of an act of simulation.
"An 84th-minute yellow card for a holding offence by De Bruyne came towards the end of what was a very good team performance by the officials.
"I send my congratulations to Michael Oliver and his team: Jarred Gillett (VAR), Stuart Burt (assistant referee 1), James Mainwaring (assistant referee 2), Ramon Abatti Abel (fourth official), and Ivan Bebek (assistant VAR)."
Norway v England
"Clement Turpin officiated the Norway vs England game and kept his cards in his pocket for the most part.
"That was fine until Julian Ryerson's over-the-top reaction to a free-kick awarded against him wasn't sanctioned with a yellow card. Such dissent was certainly punishable with a booking.
"Harry Kane's delicate chip late in the first half was correctly ruled out for offside, as was a Norwegian goal after a VAR review early in the second half. The restart under the new law is a retake of the corner kick, and this was also correctly applied.
"Another good piece of officiating came when the referee and his VAR Jerome Brisard detected and penalised Jude Bellingham for looking for a free-kick.
"Monsieur Turpin also awarded a late penalty kick, only for VAR to correctly intervene, determining that this was a clear and obvious error by a referee who continues to demonstrate with this performance why he is one of the world's top match officials."
Argentina v Switzerland
"The 100th game of this World Cup, and referee Joao Pedro Silva Pinheiro from Portugal can be very satisfied with his performance.
"He allowed the game to breathe by keeping a low-key approach, though he was left with no option other than to book Switzerland's Breel Embolo after he caught Leandro Paredes. Argentina players were unhappy with the challenge, however, and the temperature in the game clearly rose in that moment, meaning the official had to enforce his authority to ensure full control of proceedings.
"I have to say that the lawmakers have changed the laws to ensure more playing time, but the one thing that they have not done is to take away the timing of games from match officials. The game needs to introduce an independent timekeeper to ensure that all the appropriate lost time is added.
"During first-half stoppage time, the official whistled for a handball offence against Manuel Akanji, but replays show, in my opinion, that this was the wrong call.
"Tensions on both sides continued to rise after the break, with the Swiss players and those on the bench unhappy with Paredes' challenge on Embolo.
"However, a VAR intervention correctly determined that Embolo had actually simulated contact to attempt to deceive the referee, and as such, he would rightly receive a yellow card. As he'd already been booked earlier in the game, a red card - the 14th handed out in the tournament - swiftly followed.
"It's important to mention the VAR protocol at this point. Red cards resulting from a clearly incorrect second yellow card are reviewable. Mistaken identity is reviewable when a player is shown a yellow/red card, but the offence for which the card was shown was committed by another player of either team.
"Competitions have the option of reviewing corner kicks that have clearly been incorrectly awarded if the decision can be corrected immediately and without delaying the restart.
"Under these recent changes, the review for this particular situation will have taken place under the mistaken identity criteria.
"Right at the end of extra time, Lautaro Martinez ran into the crowd after scoring Argentina's third goal, so he was very fortunate not to pick up a yellow card for his goal celebration."
Why FIFA must be investigated
"Folarin Balogun’s delayed red card has left FIFA's integrity in doubt once more.
"The big discussion point from this World Cup - the decision to delay his suspension after he was sent off for a serious foul play challenge - judged accurately by the match referee, was and is outrageous.
"Furthermore, I understand that the decision was taken by one person - committee chairman, Mohammad Al Kamali of the UAE.
"If the intervention of President Trump wasn't poor judgment enough, news that none of the other 17 members were consulted should see FIFA investigated immediately."